Hand held air operated vacuum cleaner



y 4, 1967 c. G. LAKE ETAL 3,328,827

' HAND HELD AIR OPERATED VACUUM CLEANER Filed Dec. 1, 1965 0424 4/9/11;- 6 502 gm 44m? United States Patent 3,328,827 HAND HELD AIR OPERATED VACUUM CLEANER Carl G. Lake, Georgia Ann Lake, and Lillian H. Lake, all of PI). Box 1002, Bar-tow, Fla. 33830 Filed Dec. 1, 1965, Ser. No. 510,888 6 Claims. (Cl. 15-344) This invention relates to vacuum cleaners, and more particularly to a small, lightweight, hand held vacuum cleaner suitable for use in filling stations, car wash establishments and automobile dealers for cleaning of floor mats around accelerator and brake pedals, ledges, upholstery, etc., also in barber shops for the removal of clipped and waste hair or other debris.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a small compact hand held air operated vacuum cleaner having an air turbine for driving the suction fan and receiving pressurized air by a readily attachable and detachable connection to the conventional air pressure hose available at all automobile service centers and barber shops, that is, of simple construction, eflicient, of great power and durability, with no parts to get out of order, and as the vacuum cleaner requires no electric switches, wigging, insulators, etc., the unit can be economically produced from light weight materials at low production costs.

Another object of this invention is to provide the mounting of the air turbine and suction fan of the vacuum cleaner on a single shaft having a single bearing support between the air turbine and suction fan.

A further object of this invention is to provide in the face of the suction nozzle of the vacuum cleaner, a

plurality of suitably angled air discharge outlets through which the exhaust air is discharged to agitate the dirt and debris.

Still another object of this invention relates to the provision of a spring clip on the handle of the vacuum cleaner which supports the air chuck at the end of the air hose and holds the same in operative connection with the air inlet of the vacuum cleaner.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of an exhaust control for regulating the pressure of the exhaust air leading to head of the suction nozzle to vary the degree of agitation set up by the air expelled from the air discharge outlets.

Other objects and advantages appear hereinafter as set out in the following description and claims.

The accompanying drawings show, for the purpose of exemplification without limiting the invention or claims thereto, certain practical embodiments of the invention wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view partly in section of the vacuum cleaner;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary cross-section thereof on a vertical plane showing details of the air turbine and suction fan arrangement with air supply, air discharge and air suction passages;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view of the suction fan housing taken on line 3-3, FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of the air turbine housing taken on line 44, FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a detail sectional view of the suction nozzle;

FIGURE 6 is an end view of the suction nozzle as viewed on line 6--6 of FIGURE 5.

Referring to the drawings, the vacuum cleaner is made up of a casing 10 having a suction nozzle 12 at one side thereof, and a handle 14 disposed at the top of the casing. It will be seen in FIGURE 1, that the nozzle 12 projects forwardly and downwardly with reference to the casing 10, while the handle 14 extends upwardly and rearwardly from the casing 10. Both the nozzle 12 and handle 14 may be formed integral with the casing 10, or may be detachably connected thereto in any desired manner.

A partition wall 16 divides the casing 10 into a suction fan chamber 18 and a rotor chamber 20. Formed axially in the partition wall 16 is a hub 22 providing a bearing 24 for a shaft 26. The shaft 26 carries on one end a fan 30 rotating within the suction chamber 18 and at its other end a rotor 32 operative within the rotor chamber 20. It is to be noted that the fan 30 and rotor 32 are axially spaced apart and the intermediate portion of the shaft 26 has bearing support within the bearing 24. The casing 10 is suitably divided into at least two separate and connected sections (not shown) to permit assembly of the shaft 26 with attached rotor and fan therewithin.

Provided in the handle 14 is an air supply passage 34 having its inlet end formed with a nipple 36 disposed on the underside of the handle adjacent its free end. The passage 34 is so related to the rotor chamber 20 as to have its discharge end 38 substantially tangential to the periphery thereof, as shown in FIG. 4, so that pressurized air discharged therefrom, will impinge directly on the vanes of the rotor 32. An air hose 40 connected to a source of compressed air (not shown) is attached to the nipple 36 and is held in place by a spring clip 42. The air hose 40 may have at its free end a valve fitting (not shown) of the type conventionally employed on air hoses of filling stations supplying pressurized air to tires. In such.a case the nipple 36 is so dimensional as to coact with such a valve fitting, the spring clip 42 acting to hold the same in connected relation to the nipple. The air exhausted from the rotor chamber 20 flows outwardly therefrom through an air discharge passage 44 in the casing 10 which communicates with an air discharge passage 46 in the nozzle 12 for a purpose to be hereinafter described. It is to be understood that the rotor 32 may have any desired number of vanes of any suitable configuration and size.

The suction nozzle 12 is provided at its lower free end with a suction head 50, shown in FIGURES 5 and 6 to be somewhat rectangular in shape. Arranged in the suction head 50 is a perimetrical row of air discharge ports 52, each in communication with a plenum chamber 54 formed in the upper portion of the suction head 50, which passage is in communication with the air discharge passage 46. Thus, the pressurized air which operates the rotor 32 is exhausted from the rotor chamber 20 through air discharge passages 44, 46 for final discharge through the air discharge ports 52 in the suction head 50, the air thus discharged serving to agitate and loosen the dirt and debris beneath the suction head 50 as the same is moved across a surface to be cleaned.

Formed centrally in the suction head 50 which has a flat surface engaging side 56, and inwardly of the air ports 52 a suction orifice 60 shown rectangular in shape which communicates with a suction passage 62 in the suction nozzle 12. The suction passage 62 in turn communicates with a suction inlet passage 64 in the casing 10 which discharges into the suction fan chamber 18. A suction outlet passage 66 extends from the fan. chamber 18 and has its outlet in the casing extension 68. Attached in any suitable manner to the casing extension 68 is a dirt collecting bag or receptacle into which the dirt from suction outlet passage 66 is discharged. As with the rotor 32, the fan 30 may have any number of vanes which may be of any desired shape and size.

Thus, in the operation of the vacuum cleaner, it is seen that the rotor 32 is powered by pressurized air which 3 is exhausted through ports 52 to agitate the dirt in the vicinity of the head 50, the dirt in turn being drawn into the suction orifice 60 by the suction set up by fan 30 for ultimate discharge into the bag 70.

The pressure of the air discharged from the ports 52 in the suction head 50 is regulated by a manually operated slide valve 72 which controls a vent opening (not shown), the degree to which the vent is opened controlling the amount and/ or pressure of air exhausted through passage The novel features and the operation of this device will be apparent from the foregoing description. While the device has been shown and the structure described in detail, it is obvious that this is not to be considered limited to the exact form disclosed, and that changes may be made therein within the scope and the spirit of the invention.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed is:

1. A hand held air pressure operated vacuum cleaner comprising:

(a) a casing,

(b) a partition wall within said casing forming there- Within a rotor chamber and a suction fan chamber,

() a shaft rotatably supported intermediate its ends by said partition wall,

(d) a rotor on one end portion of said shaft operative within said rotor chamber,

(e) a suction fan on the other end portion of said shaft operative within said suction fan chamber,

(f) a handle fixed to said casing,

(g) an air supply passage on said handle,

(h) means at the inlet end of said passage for connection to a source of pressurized air,

(i) said air supply passage at its discharge end delivering pressurized air substantially tangential to the periphery of said rotor to drive the same,

(j) a suction nozzle on said casing in communication with said suction tan chamber, and

(k) a dirt collecting bag connected to said casing in communication with said suction fan chamber,

whereby said rotor when actuated by a supply of pressurized air, will operate to drive said suction fan for drawing dirt into said suction nozzle to be delivered into said bag.

2. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1, including:

(a) a suction head on the free end of said suction nozzle,

(b) a suction orifice in said suction head,

(0) a suction passage in said suction nozzle,

(d) said suction fan chamber having an inlet and a discharge opening,

(e) said suction passage connecting said suction orifice with the inlet opening of said fan chamber,

(t) an extension on said casing to which said dirt collecting bag is connected,

(g) there being passage means in said casing and extension connecting the discharge opening of said fan chamber with said dirt collecting bag.

3. The vacuum cleaner of claim 2, wherein:

(a) said rotor chamber includes an air exhaust outlet,

(b) there being an air discharge passage in said casing and suction nozzle in communication at one end with said air exhaust nozzle,

(c) a plurality of air discharge ports in said suction head surrounding said suction orifice,

(d) a plenum chamber in said suction head,

(c) said air discharge passage communicating at its other end with said plenum chamber, and

(f) each of said discharge ports being in communication with said plenum chamber,

whereby the exhaust air from said rotor chamber discharged from said discharge ports in said suction head will agitate the dirt in the vicinity of said suction orifice when the suction head is moved over a surface to be cleaned.

4. The vacuum cleaner of claim 3, including:

(a) a spring clip secured to said handle, and

(b) said connecting means at the inlet end of the air supply passage in said handle comprising a nipple formed to coact with an end of an air hose connected to said source of pressurized air,

whereby on application of said air hose end to said nipple, said spring clip will engage said air hose end to hold the same in operative relation to said nipple and handle.

5. The vacuum cleaner of claim 4, wherein:

(a) said suction head has a flat face for movement on a surface to be cleaned, and

(b) said ports being arranged in a perimetrical row with relation to the sides of said suction head and wholly surrounding said suction orifice.

6. The vacuum cleaner of claim 5, including:

(a) vent means in the casing wall at the exhaust side of said rotor chamber, and

(b) valve means for controlling said vent means whereby to regulate the supply of exhaust air to said discharge ports to regulate the degree of agitation etfected by said exhaust air expelled from said discharge ports.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,055,577 9/1936 Hulf 1S345 2,181,487 11/1939 Khuen-Kryk 15--345 3,107,386 10/1963 Mandin 15345 ROBERT w. MICHELL, Primary Examiner.- 

1. A HAND HELD AIR PRESSURE OPERATED VACUUM CLEANER COMPRISING: (A) A CASING, (B) A PARTITION WALL WITHIN SAID CASING FORMING THEREWITHIN A ROTOR CHAMBER AND A SUCTION FAN CHAMBER, (C) A SHAFT ROTATABLY SUPPORTED INTERMEDIATE ITS ENDS BY SAID PARTITION WALL, (D) A ROTOR ON ONE END PORTION OF SAID SHAFT OPERATIVE WITHIN SAID ROTOR CHAMBER, (E) A SUCTION FAN ON THE OTHER END PORTION OF SAID SHAFT OPERATIVE WITHIN SAID SUCTION FAN CHAMBER, (F) A HANDLE FIXED TO SAID CASING, (G) AN AIR SUPPLY PASSAGE ON SAID HANDLE, (H) MEANS AT THE INLET END OF SAID PASSAGE FOR CONNECTION TO A SOURCE OF PRESSURIZED AIR, (I) SAID AIR SUPPLY PASSAGE AT ITS DISCHARGE END DELIVERING PRESSURIZED AIR SUBSTANTIALLY TANGENTIAL TO THE PERIPHERY OF SAID ROTOR TO DRIVE THE SAME, (J) A SUCTION NOZZLE ON SAID CASING IN COMMUNICATION WITH SAID SUCTION FAN CHAMBER, AND (K) A DIRT COLLECTING BAG CONNECTED TO SAID CASING IN COMMUNICATION WITH SAID SUCTION FAN CHAMBER, WHEREBY SAID ROTOR WHEN ACTUATED BY A SUPPLY OF PRESSURIZED AIR, WILL OPERATE TO DRIVE SAID SUCTION FAN FOR DRAWING DIRT INTO SAID SUCTION NOZZLE TO BE DELIVERED INTO SAID BAG. 